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Yes, she plays the harp, but don't expect lullabies or pearly gates music. Deborah Henson-Conant wears her electric harp on a strap around her neck and plays it like a rock star.

This weekend she returns to Newtown for a performance with the Flagpole Radio Cafe, which opens its new season on Saturday, Sept. 28. And she has plenty of stories to share, especially after a busy year in which she fulfilled one of her life's big bucket list goals.

"Since my last show with the Flagpole Radio Cafe, I joined a rock band and toured the world with famed guitarist Steve Vai," said Henson-Conant, who'd always wanted to tour as a harpist with a rock band. "I fulfilled that goal with a vengeance."

Henson-Conant, who is 59 and lives outside Boston, played nearly 100 shows with Vai.

"It was way harder than I thought, and way more amazing than I thought," she said.

Talented as she is, Henson-Conant said the learning curve was huge.

"It took all the skills I had, my skills as an orchestral harpist, my skills as an actress and my improvisational skills, everything from classical to jazz, and physical stamina."

There was also lots of music to memorize, as well as technological challenges. Because the lighting was so intense onstage, she had to have lights put onto her 11-pound harp. The lights add four more pounds, but "it's a gorgeous effect," she said.

Henson-Conant's instrument, the DHC Light, is the top-selling electric harp in the world. It's named after her because it was created for her, so she could tour internationally.

Coming back to the Flagpole feels like coming back home, she said.

"I had so much fun at the last show and I can't wait to see everyone again -- both on the stage and in the seats."

Henson-Conant is a Grammy-nominated composer and a spirited performer. Her playing ranges from raucous to delicate and her shows blur the line between musical performance and theatrical event.

Blues, flamenco, Celtic, funk, folk and jazz -- she does it all. And she shares her skills and techniques with other harpists through an online school she started last year.

"It's called Pluck University, or Pluck U," she said, in a recent interview by phone. "My students are all over, from Australia to Singapore and Europe. I teach them how music works and fits together. I never realized the Internet would be such a big connection for me. Hipharp.com (her website) has a link."

In Newtown, she'll do a combination of music, singing and storytelling.

"Flagpole's style is like an old-time radio show," she said. "I grew up listening to that; I love that stuff. I love how performing can be big and bombastic and intimate and tender, and it can switch on a dime. This will be a very special show."